I am not usually the type to go on tours since I like to take my time places and experience things on my own. But when a 12 day tour to India comes up for about $1000, you take the trip!

I have traveled with Worldspree before when I went to China and had an idea of what I was getting into, or so I thought. We received our flights about a week prior to departure and saw that we left on December 4th and arrived into India December 6th…you read that right, two days of traveling. We started our adventure Air China and we were off!!!! LAX-PEK (12hr 50min) and PEK-DEL (7hr 30min).

After landing and clearing customs and waiting for luggage for about 2 hours for 34 people, we made it to the Westin Gurgaon for a nap and breakfast and ready to start what was already day 3!

The day started with a drive taking us from one end of Delhi to the other. I cannot even begin to describe how many cars, scooters, cows, rikshaws and other things were on the road. What should have been a 5-6 lane freeway looked like it was 15-20 lanes.

All the trucks have writing on the back of them which in one way or another say honk, or merge or something indicating how you should use your horn. I am not sure what anything else says. The horn is a way of communicating move or I’m coming around the corner or get out of the way and used A LOT on the streets. To read a little more about Indian driving laws click here.

The first stop for us was at the Gandhi Smriti which is the site where Gandhi spent the last 144 days of his life and where he took his last steps and final breath. To be honest, I did not really know the entire story of Gandhi including his assassination. There is a type of serenity and peacefulness about this place that is very hard to explain. The energy is quiet and you can feel the warmth that was left by Gandhi.

As we were walking around the complex there was this beautiful World Peace Gong. It seemed like no one else was around and we had this complex to ourselves. Once again, absolute peacefulness.

Next up, we went to a mosque called Jama Masjid. Anyone is allowed into the Mosque and you must remove your shoes and if you are not covered enough, they provided gowns. Cameras were not allowed inside unless you paid a fee which I totally respected. This was the first day we were in India and the ATM at the airport was out of money due to the financial crisis and we were not prepared for how difficult it would be to get money…anywhere!

Next stop, a rikshaw ride through the old city. Only two people can go in together (two of us Americans that is) and since I was traveling with her friend and her mom, I partnered up with someone else in the group who ended up having a great new friend.

I wanted to stop at nearly every store that we drove by full of saris and jewelry and wedding dresses and just beautiful things. However, we were just there for a ride to get an experience of how a lot of the locals, including school children, travel around the city.

I was hoping to capture the craziness of the ride but I didn’t seem to film long enough. However, this is an idea of how bumpy the ride was and the entire time I was hoping to just not drop my phone.

As we were driving we passed many markets and with all of the traffic we were stuck in, I was able to capture a little snapshot of what life is like for the daily shopping.

The very last stop after an entirely too long of a day, was a stop at India Gate. By this point, we were totally exhausted and I don’t think we fully appreciated this area. This is a war memorial to 82,000 soldiers and is now a “gate” into New Delhi. Many people come here to pay their respect and visit this place.

What you see in these pictures is a combination of smog and fog. New Delhi has a SERIOUS air pollution problem. I was happy to only be here for a day in regards to air quality.

Overall, my first ACTUAL day in India was absolutely fantastic and a great way to get into seeing a little bit of what this country was about.